It is no secret that singer/performer Beyonce´ looks great. Nor has she left her fans in the dark as to how she achieves her enviable physique. To prepare for her role in Dreamgirls, she adhered to the Master Cleanse Diet, also popularly known as the Lemonade Diet. Conceived by natural health advocate Stanley Burroughs in the mid-20th century, the diet can be more accurately labeled a fast. Like other fasting regimes, rapid weight loss often accompanies the expulsion of accumulated toxins in the body. Also like other fasts, the Lemonade Diet has its promoters and its detractors. In the end, its effectiveness depends on the objectives of its practitioners. As with Beyonce´, many testify to the power of the Master Cleanse Diet to shed pounds and purify the bloodstream.
lemon-juice-cleans
The Master Cleanse Program
The fact that the Master Cleanse program has survived for over 50 years testifies to some degree of efficacy. Many who have followed it report the improvement or disappearance of chronic health problems that have plagued them for years. In fact, Burroughs originally applied it to the curing of stomach ulcers. His first patient reported complete healing of these perforations after 11 days on the diet. The accompanying weight loss was simply – if you’ll pardon the expression – gravy. More recently, holistic health counselor Tom Woloshyn provides anecdotal evidence from his own clientele of myriad health benefits acquired from the Lemonade Diet. In his 2009 book, The Master Cleanse Experience, he documents cases of improved sleep, mental clarity, lifted mood and addiction recovery, crediting the diet for these benefits. The Lemonade Dieter ingests only enough to keep herself from dehydration. Neither nutritional supplements nor solid food is permitted.
The centerpiece of the program:
– six or more glasses of the “lemonade”,
– each consisting of two tablespoons of freshly-squeezed lemon juice
– two tablespoons of grade-B organic maple syrup
– 10 ounces of filtered water and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
In addition to this beverage, dieters can partake of a salt-water solution and herbal tea. These serve as laxatives in the morning and evening, respectively, while the lemonade drink should be consumed when hunger pangs strike. The diet’s duration is not consistently reported. One critical website maintains that the program can last from four to 14 days, whereas Woloshyn and other champions of Master Cleanse insist that only a minimum of 10 days will achieve the desired results. Meanwhile, vitamin supplements are prohibited because Burroughs believed them to inhibit digestive evacuation.
As the diet grows in popularity, so too does a chorus of critics. Objections to the Lemonade Diet include the charge that the weight lost during this fast is water and muscle, not fat. Because of the lack of protein consumed, the body will then consume the protein from existing muscle mass. Others contend that a healthy liver is sufficient for detoxification. Still others believe that the diet’s draconian restrictions will spark an orgy of gluttony upon completion of the fast. While there are no scientific studies on practitioners, the anecdotal evidence from dieters is positive. These strong testimonies do not refute the criticisms, of course, but they do give credence to those who see the diet as enhancing their health. Fasting has centuries of history behind it. The practice endures today because the rewards have eclipsed the drawbacks.
